The squeeze on household budgets and price rises in the category led to cutbacks on dairy alternatives in 2023. Slowing inflation and price promotions will see volume declines ease in 2024. Modest improvements to consumer spending in 2025, coupled with slowing inflation, will give way to stronger momentum in 2026 and beyond. If dairy alternatives’ current younger user base retain their habits with age, usage across the population will grow.
Sustainability will become more front-of-mind as consumers’ confidence and incomes improve, creating growth opportunities for dairy alternatives. However, putting forward its green credentials will be crucial for the category to unlock this potential. At present, only a third of consumers view being environmentally friendly as a benefit of dairy alternatives.
The public focus on highly processed foods continues to challenge the market, with two in three people finding highly processed ingredients in dairy alternatives off-putting. This highlights the importance for brands with a clean-label positioning to clearly communicate this to stand out amid concerns about ultra-processed foods (UPFs). For the many brands using processed ingredients, explaining the role of less familiar components can help alleviate consumer concerns.
Volume sale declines eased in 2024. Rising interest in sustainability once incomes improve will provide new growth opportunities for the category.
Isabelle Shilling, Research Analyst
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
The market size includes dairy-free alternatives to cow’s milk products across milk, cream/custard, prepacked cheese, yogurt/drinking yogurt and desserts.
The market size refers to the retail channel only.
Mintel is the world’s leading market intelligence agency. We show you how consumers think today and tomorrow. As a trusted partner to industry leaders, we deliver game-changing insights to businesses across the globe, fuelling their marketing and innovation strategies that will shape the future.
Access high-quality market research with every purchase of Mintel’s consumer reports. Here’s what else is included in your report purchase:
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more£ 5,000 – £ 21,600
Mintel’s 2024-25 Global Outlook on Sustainability: A Consumer Study is designed to help you understand what brands and companies should prioritise in order to educate consumers and ensure...
Find out more£ 495
Sugar & Gum Confectionery - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2024. This market covers packaged chewing...
Find out more£ 495
Sweet Bakery - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2024. This market covers wrapped ambient and chilled...
Find out more£ 2,195
16-34s and parents lead on using sweet/nut spreads in ways other than for spreading on bread/toast. If the current young cohorts and children retain their wide repertoire of...
Find out more£ 2,195
Ready meals/ready-to-cook foods are expected to see volume sales return to modest growth in 2024, driven by an impressive performance from the frozen segment. Rising financial confidence will...
Find out more£ 2,195
Sales continued to fall steeply in 2023. Highlighting sustainable credentials and clean-label positioning will be opportunity areas for the category moving forward. Isabelle Shilling, Research Analyst ...
Find out more
We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.
As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.
We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
When I’m investigating specific sectors I tend to use Mintel reports for their forecasting, which I’ve always found to be very accurate.
They also offer really broad and deep coverage in their reports. They are very, very detailed. For example, we were able to gain insight across a wide range of business areas from just one report, proving that Mintel is excellent value for money.
So overall, it’s the level of detail and the quality of forecasting that really stand out for me.
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.
Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more
